Trade and Commerce of Canada in 1911 During the year ending Mch. 31st, 1911, the trade of Canada totalled $769,443,905. It was the largest in the history of the country, double that of 1901 and three times that of 1892. The imports of dutiable merchandise were $291,818,801 and of free merchandise $170,222,529-the total was $462,041,330. The exports of Canadian produce were $274,316,553 and of foreign produce $15,683,657-the total was $290,000,210. The imports of coin and bullion were $10,206,210 and the exports $7,196,155. Between 1897 and 1911 the trade with the British Empire had more than doubled-from $113,909,982 to $283,767,222. The imports of merchandise for consumption in 1911 were $451,745,108 and the duties collected $72,935,639. According to the Trade and Commerce Department Canada was 11th amongst the countries of the world in the volume of its trade in 1910 and second highest in the percentage of its increase the Argentine standing first. The official details of Canadian trade during the calendar year 1911 and for the three preceding years were as follows: It will be noted that there was a jump in the total trade from $769,000,000 in the fiscal year ending Mch. 31, to $828,000,000 in the calendar year ending Dec. 31st. According to the Trade and Commerce Department, taking the fiscal period and the ten years from 1901 to 1911, the increase of Canadian imports from the British Empire had been $82,853,086 or 177:54 per cent. and from all Foreign countries $192,310,013 or 137-16 per cent.; while the exports had increased by $40,756,950 to the Empire or 35 94 per cent. and to Foreign countries $54,734,117 or 67.47 per cent. According to figures presented to Parliament by Senator Roche (Nov. 22, 1910) the total trade of Canada in the 14 years 1883-96 was $3,064,364,983 and in the 14 years 1897-1910 it was $6,416,794,628. In the same periods the trade with the United Kingdom grew from $1,204,228,625 to $2,306,519,686 and with the United States from $1,207,298,719 to $2,823,780,248. It was estimated upon a basis of the 1910 figures that Canada's commerce per capita was the second highest in the world -Great Britain $105.25, Canada $92.42 and the United States $35.59. In this development imports had exceeded the exports for years an excess of $15,365,237 in 1903, $54,508,810 in 1907, $90,494,163 in 1910, $175,051,175 in 1911. Meanwhile the trade with Germany had been growing again to its former dimensions. By 1909 when the Surtax was removed the imports had gone down to $6,001,454; in 1911 they were $10,087,199. V.-PROVINCIAL AFFAIRS-ONTARIO Ontario in 1911 There was quiet progress in Agriculture throughout Ontario in 1911 despite certain conditions which Development required and received serious consideration. The total acreage in all field crops was 9,718,741 as compared with 9,725,684 in 1910 and 9,578,323 in 1909; the drought and intense heat of a part of the summer season had its effect upon production, however, and the total values according to Federal figures were $193,260,000 as compared with $204,002,000 in 1910 and $200,398,000 in 1909. The acres of assessed land in the Province at the beginning of the year totalled 24,706,699, the acres cleared 14,323,478, the acres of woodland were 5,293,094, the percentage of cleared land to the whole was 57 97. According to the new Census returns the population of the Province had grown from 2,182,947 in 1901 to 2,523,208 but, at the same time, the increase in urban growth had been greater than, and at the expense of, the rural communities. Much had been done in the past two decades by succeeding Ministers of Agriculture* and especially by the work of the Deputy Minister during 20 years-Mr. C. C. James-to meet a condition caused by the attractions of Western free lands and the glamour of city industrial development. It was claimed by the Toronto Globe on Dec. 21st that in seven Counties alone there had been a decrease in the rural population of 30,980 and that when the final Census figures appeared the decrease would be over 100,000 for the whole Province. The alleged condition was made to point a political moral, first, and to prove the necessity of a different kind of Provincial Government and of freer national trade; in the second place, and with more acceptance, better roads were urged and an extended telephone system with control and operation by the Government. To this the Toronto News replied (Dec. 22) by stating that under the Whitney Administration of 1905-11 the total revenue from Ontario farms had increased by $50,000,000 and the assets of the farmers by $113,000,000; that demonstration orchards had been established all over the Province, the fruit industry given a great impetus, and the value of fruit-lands in Lincoln, Norfolk, and various other counties immensely increased; that field crop competitions, improvements in seed selection, growth of Farmers' and Women's Institutes and many other elements in agricultural betterment were clearly evident to those who wished to 'see. *NOTE.-See History of Department in Special Supplement. As to good roads much had been attempted and still more remained to be done. In 20 years $40,000,000 had been spent by the Townships in cash and statute labour; under the Highway Improvement Act there was $553,312 expended in 1910 within 17 Counties and, of this, the Municipalities paid $368,875 and the Province $184,437. Motor traffic and a growing appreciation by the farmers of the value of roads for marketing and social purposes made the question prominent in 1911 and one illustration was in the vote of $100,000 by Toronto and $100,000 by York County-supplemented by $100,000 from the Government -for improving the main highways radiating from the city. During the year much was done to aid agriculture by the promotion of immigration. Mr. N. B. Colcock, the Ontario Agent in London, was active in presenting the opportunities of the Province for agricultural labourers and for investors in farm lands or fruit lands. For Northern Ontario special efforts were made to promote Scandinavian settlement. According to Dominion returns the total number of immigrants for the year ending March 1st, who gave Ontario as their destination, was 80,035. The Ontario agency in London, however, could only report from direct knowledge 9,029 British emigrants to the Province though the indirect result of its operations must clearly have been considerable. As to general conditions Mr. C. C. James made the following statement to The Standard, in London, on Aug. 25th: Ontario is a good place to carry on farming. The growth of the manufacturing towns is creating markets whose demands for agricultural produce are increasing faster than the supply. In fact there is considerable doubt as to whether they are producing enough to feed themselves. In some lines they certainly are not. It is a very favourable time for people who would settle upon the land. Thousands and thousands have been attracted to the West or drawn into the towns and cities and the consequence is that the Province of Ontario to-day presents peculiar advantages to two classes of people. First comes the man with no capital who is willing to work as a farm labourer. The demand for farm hands seems almost impossible to supply and wages are increasing. An experienced farm hand can get $25 a month and his keep throughout the year and, if married, he will be provided with a house. Besides the farm labourer, the Old Country farmer with some capital will find this a particularly favourable time to secure a farm of his own in Ontario. The conditions there will probably more closely resemble those to which he is accustomed than those prevailing anywhere else in the Dominion. Rural telephones and electric car-lines form a network of communication which do much to minimize the old-time loneliness of the farmer's existence and this autumn we are going to provide cheap electric power by means of transmission lines. As to this latter point Mr. H. N. Kittson, of the Ontario Railway Board, stated in the press on June 17th that "where five years. ago there were less than 2,000 telephones in farm houses in Ontario there are to-day, approximately, 460 systems owned by Provincially-incorporated Associations, partnerships and individuals, operating nearly 50,000 telephones and representing a capi tal investment estimated at $400,000. Ninety per cent. of these systems, which do not include those of the Bell Telephone Co., were organized by farmers, who on their own initiative, have established this service and furnished most of the necessary capital; not so much with the object of earning dividends as from a desire to provide themselves with what experience has demonstrated to be a necessary adjunct to modern farm life." Returning to Agricultural products it may be stated that on July 1st, 1911, there were 737,916 horses, 1,045,610 milch cows, 1,547,595 other cattle, 1,040,245 sheep and lambs, 1,744,983 swine and 12,942,293 poultry in the Province. During the year ending June 30th 105,741 horses, 837,544 cattle, 505,015 sheep, 1,963,937 swine and 5,011,313 poultry had been killed or sold. The wool-clip of the year was 3,780,798 pounds as against 4,010,300 in 1910. These were official Provincial figures. The Federal statistical authorities gave the Ontario production of factory butter in 1910 as 13,699,153 lbs. worth $3,482,171 compared with 7,559,542 lbs. valued at $1,527,935 in 1900; the production of factory cheese was similarly stated at 157,631,823 lbs. worth $14,845,661 in 1910 and 131,967,612 lbs. valued at $13,440,987 in 1901. The 1911 figures of orchard acreage in Ontario were 303,188, of small fruits 25,360 acres, of vineyards 11,586 acres, of gardens 58,748 acres. The following table gives the production of grain, etc., in Ontario during 1911 according to Provincial and Federal Statistics: Yield: Total Value: Product. Federal Incidents of the year included the annual meeting at Guelph, on Jan. 10, of the Ontario Agricultural and Experimental Union, the important mission of which was indicated by Mr. James, Deputy Minister of Agriculture, as follows: "There was a day when wheat and barley were the principal products of the farm, but new conditions have arisen to change the course of production. on your farms. The demand for horses from the West, the decline in the exportable surplus of eggs in Canada from 11 million dozen |